A lot had been going wrong for Nintendo in 2012 and the fortunes were threatened further in 2013. But 2014 saw the erstwhile juggernaut regain its strength. Did 2014 go down as the year of Nintendo’s turnaround? The fans and the stakeholders would certainly want to believe that. However, as it turns out, even Metacritic agrees.

Recently, Nintendo posted a net income of more than five hundred dollars. The new Nintendo 3DS handheld console has been generating positive reviews and the Wii U platform is also doing well. Little can be going wrong for the company right now and at such a time, Metacritic puts Nintendo right at the top of games publishers.

According to the results released by Metacritic, Nintendo has topped the 5th Annual Game Publisher Rankings. In the 4th Annual Game Publisher Rankings, Nintendo ended up at the fourth spot. For 2014, Nintendo has the distinct achievement of having the most titles released and the best reviewed titles as well.

According to the report, the best Nintendo game is Super Smash Bros for Wii U and Bravely Default is the most regarded on the Nintendo 3DS system. Mario Kart 8 and Bayonetta 2 have also received generous endorsements by fans and critics alike.

From the official report published by Metacritic, Nintendo has 34 unique titles released in 2014 and it has an average Metascore of 76.5. The Best Overall Release is Super Smash Bros. for Wii U with a score of 91, the Best New Original Title is Bravely Default (3DS) with a score of 85 and the Worst Overall Release is Chibi-Robo: Photo Finder (3DS) with a score of 49. The favorites of Metacritic users were Bayonetta and Bayonetta 2 as well as Mario Kart 8.

The second spot on the Annual Game Publisher Rankings was grabbed by Ubisoft which marks no change in its ranking from the preceding year. Ubisoft had 54 releases but only 21 unique titles among them. Electronic Arts found the third spot, again no change in its ranking, with 29 products of which 14 were unique titles. Sony ranked fourth, an upgrade from its fifth position last year. Square Enix found the fifth spot. Take Two Interactive that surprisingly found the first spot last year has not managed to put up a fight. It is not even in the top eight of the 5th Annual Game Publisher Rankings.